Tonite's gig by The Magic Band @ Concorde2 in Brighton had an early start because Friday Night Clubbin' had to begin shortly after 10 o'clock so arriving about 7.30 I only just saw the last few numbers by support band Son Belly and by their last I felt they seemed to be settling in nicely so I'd guess they'll be well worth seeing in their own right before too long.

The Magic Band led byDrumbo stormed on with I Got Dem old Human Gets Me Blues and follwed up with a pre-Safe as Milk Howling Wolf number whose title escapes me just now! They then dangled numbers from several LPs at least upto Doc at The Radar Station [a couple of numbers were either unknown to me or not placeable in myageing memory so I can'r be sure none were newer than that!] Fitted in between were an absolutely stunning bass solo [when did you last hear a totally bass solo number?] and a drum two-hander with Drumbo cutting in on Craig Bunch and handing the stool back over, both changeovers being affected while the both drummed in unison - pretty impressive!

Half way through the gig the band took a break to enable audients to meet and greet - this is a feature more and more bands are doing this - a habit started as far as I know by the likes of Fairport Convention. In the second half they launched back in with the 'difficult' Hair Pie Bake 2, which they followed up with the more accessible Hair Pie Bake 1 - nothing like getting the problematic ones outta the way first! They cruised on through with more numbers from the spectrum of The Don's output climaxing with Moonlight on Vermont and Big-Eyed Beans from Venus - both showstoppers and probably two of a half dozen or so of The Cap's most well-known numbers. Members of the band were rewarded when a [female] member of the crowd leapt up on stage and showed her appreciation.

Sadly the afforementioned Curfew prevented the Audience getting the Electricity or any other of the many titles I heard being shouted out Muvch foot-stomping, rhythmic chanting, clapping, whistling, etc all came to no avail and we ventured out into the night, with much muttering of fuck the dj!

If The Magic Band is touring anywhere near you and you have the dosh to afford the ticket price, I'd say you'd be foolish to pass over the opportunity - you'll not see anything like it anywhere else.

Just got back from the Ranelagh [if that's how you pronounce it] Pub in St James' Street, Kemp Town, near Brighton, where my old friend Matt Gest had been performing in its fine little Blues Club.

This was a rare solo appearance - he normally does this type of gig with his Boogie-Woogie Troup] as a dry [and cold] run for his up-coming trip to perform in a blues festival on the Caribbean Island of Mustique.

Matt sang and played his electric piano/keyboard thingumijig - sometimes covering standards made famous by bluesmen of yesteryear in a variety of styles - boogie-woogie, barrelhouse, honky-tonk etc -and sometimes improvising and singing his own lyrics. He even kicked off a few numbers extemporising on a classical theme which he noodled around until he brang it round to a blues stylee - he really is a very versatile, virtuosic, often amusing and inventive musician.

If you're not fortunate enough to find yourself in the West Indies next week, be sure to watch out for Matt very soon somewhere in the UK

Way back in the late 1960s – a lifetime
ago – changes in pop/rock music were coming at us faster than the speed of
sound. I guess this was somewhat commercially driven, but it’s also true that the
proliferation of new technologies and philosophies and revised social, sexual,
political and psychological norms were the main factors involved. There was an
almost overwhelming to categorise music [as well as everything else] into
genres and other forms of stereotype.

One such emerging musical
category was the awkwardly named Soft Rock. I guess this was spawned by a
movement towards purity and living free of artificial aids and dependence on
technology. Hence the use of huge stacks of Marshall Amps was seen as reliant
on industrial process and a never-ending supply of electricity – anathema to
the Back To The Earth cult current among some [mainly] Hippie Tribes. You get
the picture?

Be that as it may… some of the
music included [by whom I’m not sure – music journalism’s social commentators,
I guess -] in this category would have been the likes of Crosby, Stills and
Nash, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers [in the ‘Turning Point’ phase] and America to
name but three – so quite a wide variety of musical styles had some of its
product forced into this particular round hole. I think Soft Rock’s usefulness
was short-lived and the habit of its use, thankfully, soon died out – luckily some
of the best music associated with the appellation didn’t.

Anyway, the point of all the
foregoing is that the subject of this review, namely The Island Jacks’ Fly By
Wire EP would be an excellent candidate for categorisation into the Soft Rock
genre. I mean this in a totally positive way. Each track on the CD is so
different from any other that any more usual label – blues, folk, prog etc – is
quite impossible. The common factor of them is – quite apart from their
excellence and tendency to be about self-pity – is that they are all produced in such an unflashy – almost completely,
but never detrimentally , understated – way that Soft Rock is the obvious pigeon hole
to deposit it in!

Perhaps if I take the album track-by-track,
you’ll see what I mean….

Track 1 ‘Rattlesnake,’ almost to
prove a point, sort of fades in to reveal a Sting-like voice and lyric – an ode
to a betraying lover I think. The Classic Blues/Rock 3-piece line-up of guitar,
bass and drums is augmented by beautifully inserted trumpet producing a mournful
atmosphere a la mode de Miles Davis.

Track 2 ‘By The River’ is more a
bluesy CS&N type thang. Introduced by a squashed bottle-neck guitar theme
which is repeated on-and-off throughout. I’d put this into the Stephen Stills
bag of composition! – which is quite hard to replicate.

Track 3 ‘Waiting’ is a different
type of blues/folk troubadour number with an overriding rhythm suggesting
moving on – the wide open spaces hitch-hiker/train-riding liberation associated
with a certain style of Country Music.

Track 4 ‘Losing Friends’ does
exactly what it says on the tin… A slow ballad very much in the Soft Rock bag.
Beautifully produced – an excellent candidate for a shot at the singles chart –
not that others aren’t!

Track 5 ‘How It Ends,’ sadly the
final cut, is more of a dirge – not quite a talking-blues – more an insight
into the singer’s head, sharing his sadness and descent into psychosis… Very
emotional – totally effective….

The most disappointing thing
about ‘Fly By Wire’ is that there isn’t a lot more of it. Perhaps The Island Jacks
can incorporate it into a Concept Album on the theme of desertion and despair –
the stuff of all the best art! I wouldn’t even mind if they chose some much heavier tracks featuringthe extensive guitar range of axe-man Nelson Day [on which I’ve reported before – see http://www.myspace.com/abirhodeszigzagwanderings/blog/540802755

Anyway, you will have no doubt
gathered from the above that I thoroughly approve of this record by this band and cannot recommend
it highly enough.

This was one of those very special gigs which one knows will never be forgotton. The 3 bands on show were all total originals and to see them all on display in one gig was a proper treat - like a mini-festival without the discomfort!

First up was The Muel, Sam Walker, who incidentally also promoted the evening. What's there to say I haven't told you before about Sam? I guess the bottom line is that he's developing all the time. He grows in self-confidence which reflects in the quality of the performance. And there's always a new angle on one song or another of his pretty vast repertoire.

Tonight, his accompanist is old mate and sparring partner Matt Gest who introduces accordian to several of the songs and he thumps his more familiar keyboard/electric piano thingy for the rest.

Sam's performance is largely as a warm-up for the rest of the evening and being a pretty early start this is reflected by the releatively low number in the audience. But quality trumps quantity given that the select few included such luminaries as Arthur Brown [as in Crazy World of..] and John Watts [ex-Fischer-Z] both of whom lead bands featuring Sam. So that could indicate the esteem The Muel is held in, so yah-boo-sucks to anyone who chose not to abandon the 'fabulous' atmosphere downstairs - you now know what you missed!

Next up we were treated to Les Colettes who I found totally fascinating. Beneath a pretty conventional 'Electric Muse' exterior there lurked a rather exciting fusion of all sorts of styles including polyphony,musique concrete, and heavy metal, while at times they produce a pretty good approximation of Punk a la Siouxie Sioux and The Banshees.

They are definitely a band to see LIVE as they interact very well with the audience [now considerably swelled to full-house proportions] and are far more adventurous in instrumentation and risk-taking than they are on record if their current CD EP is anything to go by [more or less the conventional electric muse previously alluded to].

Two of the Trio are both well-accomplished vocalists while the third is a shit-hot axewoman - although I felt the confines of the set did not allow her the full-rein of which I felt her to be capable.

I would dearly love to see her really stretch her virtuosity some time in a not-too-distant future. Having said that the relative intimacy of the venue allowed one to get close-up-and-cosy with all the acts on the bill tonight, which was particularly the case for the final set - given by the amazing Rhinestoned Immaculates.....

....which is where a large proportion of the audience particularly didn't seem to wanna be! .... as the venue rapidly emptied [except fo the real musos here present, who stayed to see a remarkable performance].

The band is one of many guises of actor/musician Noah Taylor and in this one he plays drunken/stoned guitarist and produces the most amzing noise this side of Faust or Amon Duul I [minus Bader-Meinhof]. There is great play made of fine tuning and correct sound balance before all hell is let loose in the form of feedback and distortion that bears absolutely no relationship with neither fine tuning nor correct sound balance!

Besides Noah's antics falling all over the stage and attempting to knock the head off his esteemed electronics wizard, the band has an expertly skilled engine room, bass and drums, who hold the madness together and bring apparent musicianship back into the equation, although nobody could really ever doubt that Noah is anything less than an awesomely accomplished actor and ace guitarist into the bargain.

I think the highlight of the show was their interpretation of Madge's 'Like A Virgin' and the mayhem was concluded when the band refused to end their set at the prescibed 11 o'clock [or the council will close us down] and the stage broke up with Townshend-like ritual guitar-into-amplifier antics and the promoter having to invade the stage to switch the power off. Wonderful!

The Pub With No BeerThere’s a wonderful little venue on the Kemp Town/Brighton border where I’ve seen several excellent gigs both musical and theatric. It’s called ‘Upstairs at Three and Ten’. Sadly the same positivity cannot be directed to the downstairs pub ‘Three and Ten.’ On the last couple of occasions I’ve attended a gig at the former, the latter has been sadly lacking in one or more of the basic things you expect from such an establishment.These expectations are beer on tap, Guinness, polite and/or friendly staff, a choice of drinks at reasonable prices, help and empathy when for whatever reason they can’t supply what you first ask for and a hearty atmosphere. Given the correct supply of the majority of factors on this list, the final one follows by dint of there being a happy and content clientele as a result.The Three in Ten has failed me miserably – on this occasion more miserably than I would have thought possible. I’ll just give you a bullet-pointed list as to linger putting it all into wordy prose would be just too, too painful….• There were no draught beers due to the lack of delivery: this may well have been owing to the fact that the narrow lane was cut off by unavoidable roadworks [I’m extrapolating here, in order to give the pub the benefit of any doubt] – this might be understandable and easily tolerated if some effort had been made to fill at least some of the gaps – but for instance there had been no evident progress in providing, say, bottled Guinness as an alternative to the draught variety [I’m not getting involved in arguments about whether such a substitution might or might not have been acceptable] – there was no apparent shortage of bottled beer, by the way, other….• than the fact that the choice seemed to be limited to cider, cyder, cidre, lager, laager, laguer and amber nectar. No, not even Newcastle Brown!... I settled for a bottle of Tiger, which can be quite nice if NOT served at below - 200 deg Kelvin, which this seemed to be – as a lover of warm beer [after all this is England, home of the same]. I was not here to get pissed, drink alcohol whatever the circumstances etc – I just wanted to wet my whistle before, during and after being entertained at a rather good concert.• I took one swig from the beer and my throat was immediately anaesthetised if not destroyed by near-absolute zero liquid nitrogen, so I surgically removed the bottle from my lips and asked the barmaid if I could have a [non-alcoholic] ginger beer [having spied some on the cold shelf as opposed to in the freezer and how much it would cost [bearing in mind that I’d already shelled out for a round of drinks where no-one had got what they’d originally asked for]… “90pence for half a can,” came the reply. You could have knocked me down with a feather – not only by the price, but also by the idea that one might get sold half a can [what would happen to the other half, would it be flat before another mug came along for it?, would it have to be chucked away at the end of the evening?, was such an arrangement acceptable under weights and measures, hygiene, health and safety etc legislation?] My reaction was not to ask these entirely reasonable questions but to blurt out, ‘£1.80 for a can of fizzy pop you could buy for 30pence in a shop?’ The reply floored me. This IS central Brighton, don’t you know?’ – not even sympathetic with my objection. In fact – to put it bluntly – fucking rude!• I then turned to the callow youth masquerading as ‘Mein Host’: ‘Could I have a cup of tea please?’ I enquired, trying to remain calm, although by now quite distressed. ‘No hot drinks available in the evening.’ [Not even ‘sorry’ or ‘sir’].I gave up, left my almost unstarted bottle of Tiger on the counter [wondering if they’d manage to resell it] and went over to Morrisons Supermarket and bought a yogurt drink and the largest bar of cheap white chocolate I could lay hands on to settle my jangled nerves and recently acquired despair in at least a particular sector of human kind.It might be unfair to judge the quality of an olde englishe pubbe – on the strength of two visits to the place – but I’m sure greater judgements have been passed on lesser evidence. I certainly will arm myself with suitable sustenance next time I attend an entertainment at ‘Upstairs at Three and Ten’ whilst giving the incompetent gang of crooks downstairs a very wide birth.

Some of the conversational exchanges in this article may have been edited and rebuilt for ‘comic/tragic’ effect – but there again, they may not.

BRIDGE 9382

I have stated many times that there are basically 2 kinds of music: 'Real Music' and 'Music for people who DO NOT really like Music.'

This new work by Danish Composer Poul Ruders falls firmly into the former category. It's exactly the type of record you can put on the player when you need to clear the room of Philistines!

It is unashamedly 20th/21st Century Classical Music and the more of this type of quality record I can lay hands on the more optimistic I feel for the future of good contemplative musical art. It stands very well alongside work by the likes of Krzyszof Penderecki, Mark-Anthony Turnage and Steve Martland.

The Offred Suite is taken from Ruders' Opera [libretto by Paul Bentley] based on Margaret Atwood's dismal dystopian futuristic novel 'The Handmaid's Tale' and is structured as a continuous piece and based around 5 Aias and stitched together with various music taken from interludes and postludes.It alternates between moods of hope and fear and frequently scares and impresses one as it conjures scenes of extreme horror and exquisite beauty.

Tundra - Hommage to Jean Sibelius was commisioned by The Helsinki PhilharmoniC Orchestra in celebration of the 125th annivesary of Sibelius's birth. It is descriptive of the composer's far northern Finnish Homeland. Just 5 minutes in length, the piece is short but a highly-charged deeply impressive evocation of the long winter, the bleak landscape and the harsh weather in that region.

The final, and newest, composition herein, entitled Symphony N0. 3 'Dreamcatcher' takes the form of 2 movements. As suggested by the sub-title, it refers to that shamanic artifact, now a familiar knick-knack found in gift shops, which sorts good dreams from bad, allowing the sleeper a good night's reverie. Ruder's version, however, is an altogether more sinister device whereby Beauty and The Beast are less successfully separated with disastrous consequences - an altogether unpleasant affair.

There are those who might say the concepts of these 3 compositions are complex enough in themselves without overlaying them with 'difficult music,' but to dismiss the album on this basis would be a sad loss of the chance to experience some fine atmospheric mood-music. My advice to anyone retiscent to take to the opportunityof hearing it, is give it a go. It may take a little adjustment to one's normal idea what good music should sound like but a small amount of 'work' will pay dividends and may leave a lasting legacy that al Music gives you an opening into a whole new world of Real Music!

This really tasty piece of art/music will no doubt be hijacked by those wimpy people who insist on labelling anything a wee bit left-field with the meaningless epithet "Post-Punk".

I think I'll have to bag it up in the equally vast but more meaningful wasteland called Fusion. To narrow things down a bit I think I shall helpfully and more precisely define it to be "Dark Fusion."

It encompasses all sorts of genres that have passed this way before - notably Stranglers/Roxy Music-type Glam/Rock/Punk, some exceedingly good Industrial Electronica a la Einstürzende Neubauten or Faust, a dash of Pomp and a gert-big dollop of good old-fashoined straight-down-the-line Rock'n'Roll!

More immediately and importantly Give Her The Gun is the direct descendent of the recently extinct and lamented cock-rockers(?) LeftHand Red.

In other words, it really is a unique stand-alone creation worthy of consideration of all music-lovers and heading I anticipate for the stately destination of 'Masterpiece' for The Few ie You and Me [The Cogniscenti] - a bold claim I accept but I'm sure there are Others out there who will join me in acclaiming this work to be just that!

I cannot describe how satisfying and challenging I've found listening to and exploring this mini-album to be. "The Creators" [I think I'll call them that] proclaim Give Her The Gun to be 'a fictional band set in a post-apocalyptic time' and the world they inhabit to be 'connected to the band-penned novels 'Caden's Journals' '[if you can sort out my liberally-sprinkled apostrophes!] - a new chapter of which will be released every few weeks and it is intended to publish a complete new novel every 18-24 months.

And as with all their other activities, including their 1st album which is due in 2013, the novel will be released under the auspices of the mysteriously titled production company "Arcane Alliance".

I thoroughly recommend this very imaginative meandering 6-track EP and suggest you make every effort to support this ambitious and very worthwhile project.

Abi is recovering from a brilliant but exhausting weekend. First The brilliant Mick Farren gig at Westhill Hall, then 6 hours sorting records ready to play at Blaker's Park Community Picnic. Then the big day itself... Wow! Several people said it was the best one yet. There was a little problem with keeping up with the timings on the set list - but doesn't that happen at all great festivals? Then the m...arquee guys turned up wanting to take our cover and stage away, having already having had to write off another tent at another venue due to it being lifted and ripped beyong repair by the near-gale-force winds. But they were brilliantly patient with us and allowed us to finish in style. Will be writing more aboctut the actual bands later if I can get my head around it, but would just like to say how varied and how accomplished they were in their different genres. This is largely down to The groups themselves of course but also the fabulous programming and negotiating skills of Nick Straiton who put the show together - not to mention the fab sound engineering by the guys from Sound On Q, Roy Weard and Cliff [Xanthus] Dowding. Secondly I send a note to self for next year - we must impose a time limit for acts to be on and off stage. So that if they choose to faff about with sound checks fussing over niceties only they will notice, then they will wind up with less performing time. All concerned - please note!

I fondly remember the era when Blues...more explicitly British Blues... was the central pivot on which all underground music swung. Names like Taste, Rory Gallagher, John Mayall, Peter Green & Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After and Savoy Brown were on our tongues daily and this led us to explore their American progenitors and the scene developed into the Prog. Rock scene the height of which sadly did not last long before descending into the cesspool of pretentious navel gazing noodling boredom that spawned Punk.

Anyway these times were exciting and rapidly changing. Occasionally an attractive new Blues artist comes along and takes us back to those halcyon days in our ageing heads. I think this has happened to me in the last couple of weeks. I first saw Marcus Bonfanti at The Boogie Woogie Troop's gig @ The Brunswick in Hove last week and when I heard roles were to be reversed and The Toop were to appear as support to Marcus's band @ Brighton's Komedia this last Wednesday 30th May 2012.

Sadly I thought I wouldn't be able to afford another outing in May but then I got the chance of a guest list entry, so I jumped at it along I went!

The Boogie Woogie Troop were back to their basic format of The Amazing Matt Gest on Keys/electric piano andf Lead Vocals, The Ubiquitous Jim Mortimore on bass and The Muel Himself Mr Samuel Walker on Drums and Backing Voices. in a pretty short set they showcased their expansive spectrum of jazz, big band and rock'n'roll repertoire and think newcomers in the pleasing packed house were given something to ponder and inwardly digest.

Then Marcus Bonfanti swung onto the stage and amazed all with his fine guitar styling and exercised his lungs to show off his authentic Blues voice and very original songwriting ability. He is brilliantly supported by drums and bass. He plays a mix of traditional and self-composed tunes and each one displays a further amazing talent, be it his gravelly vocals, his very fine slide and bottleneck skills or the humour that permeates his songwriting. The show ended with Matt Gest back on stage with the band and these two great talents were able to bounce off each other producing a rare and fine exhibition of virtuoso playing at its best.

The other thing I need to mention about theis gig is that the sound quality was the best I've heard anywhere in years and years. hether that was down to the Komedia's own system, the particular engineer that evening or something Marcus's band brought along with them or a happy mixture of all of these I don't know. Whichever of these it was I'd like to thank all concerned for putting on such a great night out.